Final Fantasy XIV - Letter from the Producer Live 74 Summary

The most recent Live Letter of Final Fantasy XIV has just wrapped, here you'll find all the details for the upcoming Patch 6.3.

Patch 6.3: Gods Revel, Lands Tremble

Today's Live Letter had been scheduled on the 10th anniversary of the shutdown of Final Fantasy XIVs 1.0 servers. So director and producer Naoki Yoshida took the opportunity to reflect on it mostly how he used to do these Letters from the producer in a suit and how he constantly had to apologize for the performance of servers back in the day.

During this Live Letter, we got all kinds of information on the upcoming 6.3 patches that'll also mark the midpoint of Final Fantasy XIVs current Endwalker expansion. Traditionally, the X.3 Patch is usually the end of an expansion story and also the one that features some significant content updates, this time around, it is a bit light on content. At least compared to our wealth of content in the last two patches. But it's an odd patch number that means we get a new Alliance Raid and a new Ultimate!

Fittingly, the 6.3 Patch is called ‘Gods Revel, Lands Tremble' since lots of the focus is gonna be on the upcoming part 2 of the Myths of the Realm Raid. The patch is gonna be released in early January of 2023 as the team felt like a late December release would screw up everyone's plans for the holidays and New Year. It also means that the Ultimate will release sometime in later January! Since Yoshida already shot down a possible January 3 release, we can expect patch 6.3, most likely on January 10. But let's talk content.

New Quests All-Around

A new major patch means, of course, a new entry in the Main Story Scenario and from the Screenshots, it seems as if our journey with the newly introduced character Zero is far from over. The journey will take us to Garlemald where we reunite with the twins and go on a little adventure there. How this ties back into our actions in the Void is still open but we assume that this will be the penultimate chapter in that story before it wraps up with 6.4 or the first half of 6.5.

But that's far from everything, we also have to tend to yet another chapter of Tataru's Grand Endeavor which will take us back to the Far East to meet everyone's favorite merchant Hancock. We can only assume that this time around we'll reunite with the Four Lords from Stromblood's trial questline.

There'll also be a continuation of the patch 6.2 introduced Newfound Adventure questline, which could be started after finishing the Main Scenario of that patch.

We also get yet another entry in the Hildibrand questline, somehow there'll be even further Hildibrand adventures that'll release with patch 6.35 a few weeks after the release of the bulk of the patch. New Hildibrand quests also mean that there'll be another entry for the new Mandervile Weapon quest chain. Here you get to upgrade your recently obtained weapons!

And there's also the last of the Endwalker Tribal quests, the Loporrits! They'll also release with the 6.35 patch and will revolve around crafters. You can use them to either level up or obtain rare materials and rewards. Hopefully, we'll finally get that elusive Loporrit minon.

Battle Content

New Main Scenario also means we'll also get a new level 90 dungeon. This one is called Lapis Manalis and seems to be set in Garlemald. Not only do we explore the mountain range, but we'll also venture deep beneath the ground to discover the vast pools of Ceruleum that fueled the empire's war machine. Maybe we'll even learn how it came into existence in the first place.

The Main event is gonna be the new Alliance Raid, part 2 of the Myths of the Realm called Euphrosyne. The screenshot is shown off looks like the heaven of the earth and if we go by the elemental wheel we'll also travel to the heaven of water if the previous one is anything to go off by.

As always, there is also a new trial that's still a secret in the name. Both in Normal and Extreme difficulty and since there is no trial series this time around, it is probably one of the four fiends. Since we've already brought down two of them and I doubt we'll get to Golbez any time soon. That leaves the water fiend Cagnazzo and the fiend of fire Rubicante.

There is also the new Ultimate to look forward to! It is planned to release two weeks after the patch eventually lands and apparently way rather difficult to program. But director and producer Naoki Yoshida does not want to give away the surprise just yet. If we go by the currently established pattern, it's gonna be one of the Stormblood questlines since Ultimates usually do raids first. We can assume it's Omega, which also means we're off to the races because Omega's Raid drew inspiration from all of the Final Fantasy franchise.

New Deep Dungeons

Its been quite a while since Heaven on High was released in the middle of the Stormblood expansion since then, the Deep Dungeon content has seen little love being relegated to being either the occasional Mogtome farm or a quick way to get your DPS Jobs from level 1 to 60. With its absence dully noted during Shadowbringers, we'll finally get the third Deep Dungeon Eureka Orthos.

Fun side tangent here, this was originally planned way, way earlier. At least it was Eureka within the Allagan setting that slumbered underneath the Crystal Tower. This was actually teased at the end of the Crystal Tower questline when Nero's device dropped into the abyss even if it eventually connected to the start of Shadowbringers, it's complicated.

Since it's been ages, here is a quick recap of what a Deep Dungeon is. A Deep Dungeon's are randomly generated dungeon for 1 to 4 players that reach up to a certain number of floors. The deeper players venture into the dungeon, the harder the encounters will get, and the layout becomes more traitorous but more importantly, the loot is gonna be way better. As you ascend you'll also upgrade a special set of armor and weapon that grows stronger when players open special chests.

These dungeons tend to come in sets of 10, with the final floor being a small boss fight. They also serve as a checkpoint. The general goal is to brave all floors without dying because a wipe will cause a total reset of your progress. It is generally seen as some of the hardest content in Final Fantasy XIV, with Palace of the Dead's 200 floors and Heaven on High's 100 floors.

More importantly, however, you can do these alone and finish these instances Solo is a challenge many are looking forward to. It requires a deep understanding of your Job and also a good amount of RNG being in favor.

While Eureka Orthos will not change the rules that much, you are eligible to start it if you've reached level 81 on the job you plan to enter with. And you also have to complete the first 50 Floors of Palace of the Dead, which will serve as a tutorial.

Duty Support for Heavensward

The quest to make most of Final Fantasy XIVs story playable with AI companions continues! This time around the rest of the Main Scenario-related Heavensward dungeons will be added to the Duty Support system. This includes the following dungeons: The Great Gubal Libary, The Aetherochemical Research Facility, The Anti Tower, Sohr Khai, Xelphatol, and Baelsar's Wall.

On another note, The Aetherochemical Research Facility will undergo some adjustments and changes besides the usual visual overhaul we've been seeing. Named was only the last boss of the dungeon which is actually two bosses with a lengthy cutscene in between. Expect that to change.

Job Adjustments and PvP content Updates

As for Job Balance, so far, there are no big changes planned which is no surprise with an Ultimate encounter around the corner. But according to Yoshida, the Paladin will get a bit of an overhaul that'll drastically change how its rotation works. We're still holding out for the Dragoon and Astrologian changes they promised all the way back before 6.1 to declutter those jobs a little. But we'll have more details on that come in the next Live Letter.

The PvP content is getting some love though, not only are there more balance changes and some overhauls to come there is also the 3rd PvP Series with new rewards to look forward to. And of course Season 5 of ranked Crystalline Conflict that'll also receive a new, Hingan-themed map. Players also complained that Cloud Nine isn't exactly the most fun map to play, so there'll be some adjustments here as well.

Crafting and Gathering

Guess what? Sky Steel is back! That's right here is the first leg of the new crafting and gathering relict tools. Not only will these end up as the best gear you can possibly have for your crafters and gatherers. They also come with yet another extensive, aggravating, time-sinking grind. It's gonna be grand.

We'll also get another Custom Delivery, this time, some of the Pixies of Il Mheg are our customers and some mysterious leaf blob. Maybe we'll make an effort to turn all the sad bushes with faces back into humans? At least it'll be another neat grind with possibly a cool reward.

In other news, Collectability Values will now be displaced for reference when gathering. And primary fishing locations will now include more information for each fish. This means you can now look at the Fishing Log to find out what bait and what conditions have to be met to catch a specific fish. There'll also be a new spearfishing location in Upper La Noscea around the Wanderers Palace dungeon. This will be the first area in A Realm Reborn that'll receive a divable spot.

More Island Sanctuary

The Island Sanctuary was a huge success and was wildly popular until everyone ran out of stuff to do. With patch 6.3 comes a ‘minor update' that'll expand the content even further. Yoshida asks players once more to take it slow.

These additions include a few more Sanctuary Ranks for you to grind out and new visions to chase. Maybe we'll get another stage or upgraded workshops? Maybe we can expand our island even further. There'll also be new materials, crops, animals, and handicrafts and the team plans to implement even bigger updates with every even patch at least till the end of Endwalkers patch cycle.

We'll also see new structures and improved workshop interfaces that make agenda/supply and the earnings report much more readable. You'll also have the ability to finally collect all available yields and leavings at once instead of collecting each individually.

You'll also be able to save your orchestrion settings and other players will actually be able to hear what music you have selected. On that note, you'll also now receive a notification when visitors come to your Sanctuary.

Treasure Hunts and Gold Saucer

There'll be a new Treasure Dungeon with its own gimmicks, rewards, and fights to brave. This one will use the same maps as the current set of level 90 treasure hunts. But the Shifting Gymnasion Agonon will only have a chance to spawn if that treasure map happens to be in the Elpis zone.

Oh and we're finally getting new content for the Gold Saucer. While it is not a new mini-game or new rewards, there'll be a new map for the Leap of Faith series of jumping puzzles that'll probably be shown off during the next Live Letter.

Housing Update

Just last week and over the past year, we've seen Square Enix finally do good on their promises on server expansions. Not only does every region have new servers and or datacenters there'll also be heaps more wards that solve Final Fantasy XIVs most pressing of issues, the limited housing.

But with the next patch, every Residential Area of the world will receive 6 more wards and subdivisions that'll go on sale with the recently implemented housing lottery system. That's 1800 new plots per world, even if we don't know yet how these will be divided between Free Companies and players. While this won't solve the housing issue, it'll at least expand the options until the larger planned server expansions roll in next year.

UI Improvements and Miscellaneous Updates

Finally! After so, so long we'll finally be able to see what attacks deal physical, magical, or special damage. It only took them 9 years and players around the world finally rejoiced. To understand why this is such a big deal, it's because two of the tanks have specific skills that block specific types of damage while the others just block damage flat. But Yoshida warns since they'll have to do this for every single attack ever put into the game, don't expect it to be perfect from the get-go. Especially for older fights.

And another highly requested and legally dubiously forced feature is the ability to display remaining time for buffs and debuffs in the party list. So all that complaining and drama that happened after the release of Dragonsong Ultimate managed to work after all. Yoshida stated that he just doesn't want to be told that people are using 3rd party tools because a feature isn't in the game. So here you go.

With the new patch comes also a new UI theme, after the light/dark mode and the classic theme, we'll finally see another one. Hopefully, it'll be a minimalistic one. Or something yet unseen.

Portraits will also now be displayed when using the Duty Finder in a similar manner to how it works in the Crystalline Conflict. These won't interrupt gameplay in any shape or form and can be disabled. If you're in an Alliance Raid, they'll only display your own party, though.

There'll also be more actions and emotes available with the faction accessories and you'll now have the ability to glamour and dye a retainer's equipment without removing it. There'll also be some kind of update to the inventory system of retainers that'll be shown off in the next Live Letter. And from the next patch onwards, you can filter the inventory of the Sundry Splendors Vendors for newly added items to make shopping for leveling gear that much easier.

This sums up our recap of the most recent Final Fantasy XIV Liveletter. If you want more news and info all around Final Fantasy XIV or the latest in esports, check us out here at ESTNN